Thierry Goldberg MIAMI is pleased to announce the inauguration of our new gallery space with
Tschabalala Self’s first solo show in Miami Florida. The exhibition opens on Tuesday, December
5th with a reception from 6 to 9, and will run through January 14th, 2018.
Known for her sewn collage and assemblage paintings, which boldly examine contemporary
perspectives on femininity, race and gender, Tschabalala Self's new body of work further explores
the environments of identity politics by focusing specifically on bodegas—public storefronts that
serve as a hallmark of lower-income Black and Latinx communities throughout New York City.
Bodegas, often locally owned small businesses that sell a basic range of necessities and act as
neighborhood hubs, reflect both the triumphs and challenges of Black and Brown metropolitan life
and the often limited resources presented to communities of color. Bred out of exclusion, the
bodega is a space that has evolved in cultural significance and function.
“In this project,” Self explains, “I am attempting to both paint a portrait of a community through an
environment and portraits of individuals through the products they consume. The store functions
as the perfect backdrop to the drama of black life, for black people have been commodified,
branded and objectified throughout their historical engagement with the culture at large. Through
my exploration into the products my characters consume, I am taking a holistic approach towards
portraiture, defining my figures forms from the inside out. “Self's Bodega project also marks the artist's first development into installation. This specific show,
“Sour Patch,” is the second iteration and it includes paintings, works on paper, sculptures, and
fabricated objects, which simulate an overall immersive experience. Overstocked shelves are
filled with flattened depictions of colorful beverages and laundry detergent, with the fractured
assemblages of customers that further amplify the locality and illusion of neighborhood shops like
the ones so common in the Harlem neighborhood where the artist was born and raised.
Tschabalala Self (b. 1990 in Harlem, USA) lives and works in New York and New Haven. Her
work is currently included in Trigger: Gender as a Tool and a Weapon, at The New Museum, New
York. Selected previous exhibitions include: Tschabalala Self, Tramway, Glasgow, Scotland;
Tschabalala Self, Parasol Unit Foundation for Contemporary Art, London, UK; A Constellation,
The Studio Museum Harlem, New York; A Shape That Stands Up, Art + Practice (off-site Hammer
Museum) Los Angeles, CA; Bodega Run, Pilar Corrias Gallery, London, UK; Gut Feelings, Thierry
Goldberg, New York; and The Function, T293, Naples, Italy.